The Falling Away of the Silent Witness

Many stories and experiences can arise along the so-called spiritual path. Here are a few:

There is the appearance of a first layer of thought that arises to complain about a life situation or make it into a problem, such as the traffic jam, the job, or the spouse. That first layer is essentially past conditioning coming up to meet this moment. It is based in unconscious beliefs that life is supposed to go as planned or always run smoothly. This first layer of analysis is largely involuntary, self-centered, repetitive, and useless. It causes suffering because thought is arguing with what is.

You may learn early in your spiritual search towards enlightenment to simply watch that layer as it comes through in each moment. Awareness of that layer may allow it to quiet slightly on its own. You realize that who you really are has nothing to do with that first layer of thought that gets hung up on judging, complaining, and analyzing life situations and that is lost in stories of past and future. It is seen that this first layer is merely arising and falling.

There is the appearance of a second layer of thought that may come in to 'beat you up' for what you are thinking and feeling. It creates a new story--the spiritual ego. This layer is searching for enlightenment or the end of suffering. It is often trying to move away from what is arising now into some imagined future state of freedom from the self. This “spiritual ego” believes that it has transcended all stories and that it shouldn't have to deal with pain or stories arising. It believes it has “transcended” all that. You may be told by a teacher to simply be aware of this second layer of analysis and judgment and gently return to the space of now. It is this second layer that can create years and years of spiritual searching. Thought is trying to fix thought. This is insanity. So the teaching, "Be aware of that second layer," is fine. It has its place.

As this second layer of thought is brought into the light of awareness, it too begins to quiet down. It is seen as just as illusory as the first layer. You realize that there is an awareness is aware of both the first and second layers of thought. It is aware of the primary story of self that is judging everyday situations and it is aware of the secondary story that says that you should not be judging everyday situations--that you are "too spiritual" for that. Both stories are illusions. When awareness is aware of this first and second layer of thought, awareness may start to be aware of itself. It is realized that there is something beyond this first and second layer, something farther back. You realize yourself that which is watching, not as any of the objects or stories that are seen. This has been called, "the silent witness," in some non-duality or enlightenment teachings.

There is a tendency in enlightenment teachings to say that this awareness is who you really are. This is the awareness that is in this moment, not the temporary thoughts that arise within it. But a true shift into non-duality is when even the silent witness, as a center, falls away. There is no one left. No one taking a position on whether the first layer is good or bad or even arising or not. No one taking a position on whether the second layer is good or bad or arising or not. No one taking a position even on whether watching is good or bad. There is no longer attachment to any point of reference within the world of dualism. No me at all, not even the silent witness. It is seen that the first and second layer of thought were not real. It is seen that you were not bringing about those things. They were just arising as part of the dream of self. They were part of the dream called “me.” In that liberation, life is simply lived without a doer, without a seeker, without a watcher, without a center, without a self. That is liberation.